Four Weekly Bin Collections Could Be Coming to St Helens

The council is considering a variety of cost-cutting options including going over bin collections every four weeks.

Could you manage with four-weekly bin collections?

Families in St Helens should prepare for a vast reduction to services over the next three years as the councils attempts to implement around £20 million in budget cuts.

Senior councillors in St Helens have proposed a variety of cost-saving measures in the region in order to reduce budgets. Measures which have been put on the table include collecting bins every four weeks, making cuts to library services and getting rid of major events in the region.

St Helens council is required by the government to make savings of a massive £20.6m over the next three years between 2017 and 2020. It already announced earlier this year that it has lost out in government funding totalling £74 million since 2010.

There are discussions of a potential move to three-weekly bin collections until 2019, which is predicted to save the council £100,000 and a further move to four-weekly bin collections from 2019/20.

Events which happen annually in St Helens such as the Fireworks Display, Summer Streets and the Christmas Lights switch-on could also be cancelled.

The Ranger service, which has already been reduced to four is to be axed by 2019. Highway maintenance is also expected to be hit, with talk of a phased budget reduction to save around £100,000.

Other services being reviewed are special educational needs transport, library services, day care activities and Sherdley Park golf course.